How Do you Find the right Co-founder for your Startup?

As I made my way to Yaba on that fateful Friday afternoon, lots of questions were on my mind. But there was one particular question I could not wait to ask Fehintolu Olaogun and Olorunfemi Jegede, CredPal’s Co-founders: When did they both realise that they needed each other to bring the CredPal dream into reality?

It is common knowledge that the success or failure of many African startups are determined by partnerships. This explains why a lot of entrepreneurs tend to be careful when deciding who to go into business with. But beyond being careful, I needed to find out the specific things entrepreneurs look out when deciding who to partner with. Lucky for me, I was about to interview two Co-founders of a successful fintech startup. It was just apt that I begin with that very question.  So, I did.

Read the full interview HERE

More than a Business Partnership

When I finally got to CredPal’s office, one of the first things I noticed was how friendly everyone was to each other. Like most tech startups in Africa and elsewhere, the workforce was comprised mainly of young professionals. This inevitably created a unique ambience of comradery. I also took note of the undisputable friendship between Fehintolu Olaogun and Olorunfemi Jegede. It was obvious to me that what they have going on is beyond a mere business partnership; they are almost like brothers.

Young, vibrant and handsome, Fehintolu and Olorunfemi are the “brains” behind CredPal, a Lagos-based fintech startup that specialises in loans/credits. Founded in 2017, both men have been running the affairs of the company as CEO and COO, respectively. But their partnership goes way beyond 2017. As Fehintolu explained, “we’ve known each other long before we co-founded CredPal. We previously worked together in a company that I founded.”

READ THIS: Essential Things you Need to Establish a ‘Successful’ Tech Startup in Africa

Committed to the same Goal

Another important attribute to look out for (beyond friendship) when choosing someone to co-found a business with is whether the two of you share the same vision. Are you both aspiring towards the same goal? For Fehintolu and Olorunfemi, the mission has always been the same –to solve the problem of uneasy access to credit in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, consumers are typically required to pay up-front for whatever they buy. This is unlike what obtains in most developed economies where consumers have the option of paying in installments, provided they have good credit scores. This option was hardly available to Nigerian consumers, thereby denying them the advantages of consumer credit, chief among which is the opportunity to live a comfortable life by paying for whatever they need in a convenient and flexible manner.

Most Times, two Heads are always better than one

Olorunfemi narrated how he used to have operate an eCommerce website where he sold all kinds of products. This was long before he co-founded CredPal with Fehintolu. In the course of operating the online site, he realised that customers kept asking for installment payment option. Unfortunately, he had no provision for that. And then one day while the two friends were discussing, the issue came up. And that was when they both realised that they could actually combine their expertise to solve the problem. They did come together to develop a solution to that problem.

“One of the things that inform co-founding is when two people meet and they are both passionate about solving the same problem. Just to buttress that, the inspiration for CredPal came up in a discussion we both had, where we both instinctively saw the need to come up with a solution to this problem. So, it was that natural. He was excited about the problem we wanted to solve and I was excited about it as well,” Olorunfemi Jegede said…

Read the full interview HERE